Make-A-Wish Donations Spike After Site Redesign

This holiday season, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America has seen a big bump in online donations--which the organization attributes to its new, more user-friendly Web site.

The charity, which grants wishes--ranging from trips to Disney World to meetings with celebrities--to sick children, revamped its site on Sept. 1. In the two months following, the average number of online donations referred to the site increased 85%, and the revenue from those visits nearly tripled.

The organization also has seen a year-to-year rise in donations during the holiday season--from 1.19% of visitors to 1.45% of visitors, as well as an increase in the amount donated.

"Holiday time is always our busiest time of year, but we are significantly higher this season than we have been in previous holiday seasons," says Mike Pressendo, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America's director of brand communications. "The way things are trending, it may end up being our best year ever." He says the previous best year was 2003, through a lump-sum donation from GM and the United Auto Workers union.

Last month, the organization racked up 71% more Web-related donations than in November of 2005. This month, donations had increased 32%, as of Tuesday. In addition, the site last month hit an all-time high for unique site visitors--171,805.

Interactive shop Digital Pulp handled the redesign. Agency President Ron Fierman said that the site now offers more photos and emphasizes story-telling. "When you see the children--see the wishes being fulfilled--you understand what's going on immediately," he said.

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